


Darkness Falls

by izanami7



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon Era, F/M, Gen, Romance, Second War with Voldemort, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:27:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 10,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26558929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/izanami7/pseuds/izanami7
Summary: The wizarding world has acknowledged Voldemort's return and full scale war has broken out. Amidst daily deaths and disappearances and a Ministry in disarray, Tonks struggles with heartbreak and Bellatrix tries desperately to win back her master's favour.
Relationships: Andromeda Black Tonks & Nymphadora Tonks, Bellatrix Black Lestrange & Narcissa Black Malfoy, Bellatrix Black Lestrange/Voldemort, Remus Lupin/Nymphadora Tonks
Comments: 7
Kudos: 23





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fic will span the summer between Harry's 5th and 6th years, alternating POV each chapter between Tonks and Bellatrix. Just in case it looks familiar to anyone, first few chapters are a rewrite of a fic I started writing on FF.net many years ago.

Tonks slowly opened her eyes before snapping them shut again at the piercing daylight. She decided to roll over and go back to sleep, but the arm she reached out to turn herself didn’t move. She struggled a little but it seemed to be bound to her chest. That was odd.

Disoriented, she opened her eyes, more slowly this time, and realised she had no idea where she was. Sunlight streamed towards her from all directions, reflected from clean, white surfaces. That was very odd. It was all far too clean.

A shadow moved across her face and she turned to the figure leaning over her and tried to ask where she was, but let out only an indecipherable murmur.

“Oh thank goodness, you’re awake,” the figure said and Tonks smiled as the voice triggered a warm, fluffy sensation in her still dazed mind. She struggled to focus her eyes on him.

“You’re in St. Mungo’s, but the healers say you’ll be fine in a couple of weeks,” he continued, gently, before asking, in a rather more worried tone, “Nymphadora, are you all right?”

“Don’t call me that,” Tonks snapped back, her vision finally sharpening enough to take in Remus’ pale, concerned face.

“I’ll take that as a yes, then,” he said, relaxing into a smile.

From the two empty mugs and half a bottle of pumpkin juice that sat on her bedside table, atop a newspaper with the headline 'YOU-KNOW-WHO RETURNS', Tonks could tell that Remus had been waiting for her to wake up for some time. Her heart fluttered with a mixture of gratitude and embarrassment.

Tonks scrunched her stiff shoulders as best she could with her right arm tightly bandaged to her chest. This wasn’t the first time she’d found herself waking up in hospital. There had been that time when she had tripped over a cauldron in her first year of Auror training and doused herself in Scalding Solution, the nasty incident with the Wartcap Powder, not to mention all the injuries she had sustained whilst practicing duelling.

“What did I do this time?” she mumbled, expecting yet another embarrassing tale of her own clumsiness, but Remus’ eyebrows shot up in shock.

“You don’t remember?” he asked and Tonks shook her head vaguely. “Well we went to the Ministry,” he continued, his eyes now even more concerned as they raked over her expression of numb confusion. “Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny and a couple of their friends had gone there because they thought Voldemort had... well, we went down to the Department of Mysteries to get them out and... and...” 

Remus broke off, seemingly struggling to maintain his usual calm demeanour, as his gentle, reassuring tone of voice began to fracture. Tonks felt a sudden desire to comfort him, to tell him that everything would be all right. If only she could piece together the hazy memories of what had happened enough to be sure that everything was all right.  
There had been a silver doe; that was Severus’ Patronus, and it had burst into the kitchen at Headquarters to tell them they needed to get to the Ministry. Sirius’ look of righteous fury; he had put up a fight when he was told to stay where he was and there wasn’t really time to argue with him. Doors spinning in a blur and glittering time turners; they had gone to a part of the Ministry she had never seen before that felt unnerving and otherworldly. But none of these images told Tonks exactly what had happened.

“I remember going to the Ministry,” she began, feeling as though she was clutching at the final, fleeting memories of a dream, “but not... were the Death Eaters there?”  
“Yes,” Remus replied quickly, but he did not seem to want to elaborate so Tonks pressed on.

“So one of them did this to me, then?” she questioned, indicating her bandaged arm and chest. Now sleep had truly worn off, she had become aware of how much they ached. Spell damage, surely, but not quite like anything she had felt before.

Remus nodded gravely, his eyes full of guilt, pity and an intense sadness, such as Tonks had never seen, as they scanned her broken body. 

“I’ll be okay,” Tonks assured him. “I’ve made it through far worse in training when...” Tonks trailed off at the look Remus was struggling to conceal from his eyes. Her stomach dropped as she realised what that look meant; she wasn’t the greatest of his worries.

“Remus, did... did something happen to one of the others?” she asked tentatively, her voice shaking with sudden fear.

He nodded, no longer looking at her and the calm expression he had struggled to maintain throughout their conversation cracked into a look or pure, grief-stricken anguish, which felt like a knife driving itself through Tonks’ stomach.

“I sh-shouldn’t be bothering you with this,” Remus muttered, making to leave, but Tonks grabbed at his wrist with her un-bandaged hand. He froze and she gently guided him to sit on the bed beside her.

“Please tell me,” she asked in a desperate whisper. 

Remus closed his eyes and slowly placed his own hand on Tonks’. She watched as two tears streamed quickly down his cheeks.

“Sirius,” he said bluntly, eyes still closed.

“Is he...?” Tonks couldn’t finish, Remus’ expression answering her question, but his nod still brought tears of her own to her eyes.

They sat in silence as tears fell freely down her face. She was too overcome by numb shock to brush them away. Finally, Remus squeezed her hand and looked up into her pale face. His eyes still shining with tears, he looked so haunted, tortured even, and Tonks wanted nothing more than to take that pain away from him, but had no idea where to start. She had never been much good in such situations. Though she knew it was perhaps a little insensitive to continue questioning him, she finally let her curiosity get the better of her.

“How did it happen?” she muttered gently.

Remus’ mouth twisted with bitterness as he looked up and spat out his answer.

“Bellatrix Lestrange.”


	2. Chapter 2

Bellatrix awoke with a start, sending a jolt of pain through her aching muscles. Her neck was twisted uncomfortably against the wall and the hair that had fallen across her face was matted with blood. Although she could not remember getting into this position, she knew exactly how it had happened and the thought of the Dark Lord’s anger sent her stomach into knots of mingled fear and guilt. It had been such a long time since she had fallen out of favour with him and she didn’t think she had ever been in this much pain after enduring his punishment. Whatever she had done, it had been bad.

The realisation knocked the breath out of her and her stomach dropped. The prophecy. The thing her master had so desperately craved and the sole object of his attention from the moment she had rejoined him, was destroyed. It was gone. How could she hope to make amends when it was now too late to ever gain the prophecy that had been so crucial to his plans?

Of course it had not been her fault. Lucius had handled the situation far too delicately; he had allowed those children to escape them, and he had given them far too much control instead of simply seizing the damned thing from them. 

But still, the Dark Lord would blame them all for this mistake. And she was the only one of those who had gone to the Ministry left, the only one not captured, and hence, the one her master would take out his anger on. 

And he was angry. The memories of last night came back to her and with each one she felt the pain he had inflicted once more. 

There were deep cuts in her palms where her own fingernails had pierced straight through the skin as she writhed in agony, helpless, under his Cruciatus Curse. The blood she could feel caked onto her face and congealing in her hair came from a cut on her cheek which he had sliced open viciously with his wand. The back of her head throbbed painfully where she had hit it against the wall as he threw her to the ground. 

Yet none of these injuries pained her as much as the look of fury he had directed towards her. For the past few months she had stood by his side and watched, smirking as he had directed that look towards others; the weak who had abandoned her master rather than trying to find him as she had. For her he had reserved a smile, a look of pride at his former protégé’s achievements and devotion, and she had basked in his favour. She had revelled in the look of triumph in her master’s eyes as she had knelt before him, on the day he had come for her, breaking her out of prison, as she knew he one day would.

She closed her eyes and remembered the way he had placed his fingers under her chin, lifting her head until their eyes met, and called her his most faithful, most devoted servant and told her she would be rewarded.

Tears sprung to her eyes as she opened them and the golden memory was whisked away, leaving behind only the bleak, bloodstained room surrounding her. She struggled to her feet, noticing as she did that her left arm was sore. Pulling up the torn sleeve of her robes, she found a large bruise wrapped around her upper arm, where the Dark Lord had grabbed her to disapparate them both from the Ministry to... wherever she was now. Gently she trailed her hand along the marks left by his long, thin fingers. He had saved her. She clung desperately to that thought. He had not left her to be taken back to Azkaban like the others down in the Department of Mysteries. Surely that meant something. Although, that awful anger in his eyes said otherwise.

She made her way over to a cracked mirror that hung on the wall, wincing at the state she was in. Narcissa would be sick with worry if she returned to Malfoy Manor, where she was currently staying, like this. She pretended that was the reason she performed a few healing spells and some quick charms to vanish the blood from her face and hair and mend her robes, so that she did not have to admit to herself that she was so bitterly ashamed of her injuries.

She looked up into the mirror again, holding her chin up in an attempt to combat the appearance of weakness given by her trembling lip and tearstained eyes. After almost fourteen years without so much as a glance at herself in the mirror, she was not quite used to the way she looked now, thin and deadened, even paler than she had been in her youth. It had not really bothered her at first. Unlike her younger sister, she had never been one for agonising over her looks. But over the past few weeks niggling insecurities had begun to build up. Since she had broken out of prison, the Dark Lord had not once called her to his bedroom as he had, seldom admittedly, before he had fallen. She felt like a pathetic housewife for wondering whether he was perhaps no longer attracted to her, but the thought worried her far more than it should. She knew she should feel honoured for ever being permitted such intimacy with the Dark Lord and should not expect anything more. But she did, in the deepest corners of her mind, keep thoughts that she could not truly bury no matter how hard she tried. They told her that maybe; just maybe, he cared about her more than he would allow himself to say.

It did not matter now anyway. He had seemed so furious with her that she should be grateful he had left her alive, and she did not think she would be forgiven in a hurry. But she would regain his favour, no matter what it took. And she would destroy every single one of those fools who had caused her to lose it. She had already rid herself of one. Her idiotic cousin had had it coming for far too long. The thought of him sailing through that veil and being cleansed from the Earth for good brought a hint of a smile to her face. And she thought she had done enough damage to that brat to give Andromeda something to think about. The thought steeled her as she collected herself together and disapparated back to Malfoy Manor.


	3. Chapter 3

Tonks had been in the hospital for over a week now and she was beginning to feel very restless. Her injuries had been mostly healed, but she had been told not to attempt apparition for at least another few weeks, lest she did any further damage. The current climate made it unsafe for anyone to travel alone, particularly someone still recovering and whom the Death Eaters now knew to be an Order member. Tonks had therefore been told that she would be accompanied from the hospital by two other Order members and taken to her parents’ house where she could fully recover in safety. This had seemed a perfectly simple and agreeable plan in theory, but in practice the Order were stretched far too thinly and low priority tasks such as this had fallen by the wayside. Though she had been discharged at ten in the morning, she was still sitting on her bed with her bags packed at three in the afternoon. When Remus Lupin and Emmeline Vance strolled into her ward, she almost cheered for joy.

She flung herself at Remus, engulfing him in a bear hug, which seemed to surprise him a little before he patted her on the back ever so gently, seeming afraid to do any more damage to her still bandaged chest. As they broke apart, Remus avoided meeting her eyes but before she could make anything of it, Emmeline had wrapped her arms around Tonks maternally.

“How are you feeling, sweetheart?” the older woman asked, holding Tonks an arm’s length away from her and surveying her with steely, grey eyes.

“Much better, thanks,” she replied with a bright smile. Emmeline Vance was a good friend of her mother’s and, having known Tonks since she was very small, always spoke to her like she was a child. It had never really bothered her before, but for some reason she now found it rather embarrassing.

“Your mother was worried sick,” Emmeline continued. “She was having me send her daily updates! It was all I could do to stop her rushing back here the second she heard. She was already trying to book tickets for one of those air-plane things because they didn’t have brooms or anything with them.” Tonks’ parents had been in New Zealand when she was injured, visiting her paternal grandparents, a pair of elderly Muggles who had retired there ten years ago. They knew of their son and his wife’s magic, but were a little wary of it, so her father had always insisted on travelling to see them the Muggle way. Tonks was terrifically excited whenever she made the trip, but her mother didn’t trust anything made by Muggles to stay off the ground and always looked sickly pale until the plane had safely touched down.

“She was willing to get on an early plane home, voluntarily, just to see me?” Tonks asked with mock incredulity.

Emmeline chuckled. “Of course she was, sweetheart, but I managed to convince her it wouldn’t make any difference. They got back home earlier today as planned. Your father’s already been called back into work though, the Muggle Liaison Office is up to its ears, as you can imagine. It’s a good job they managed to get a holiday in when they did. You should ask them about the boat trip they went on. Andromeda sent me some photos of some beautiful little islands they visited.” 

Emmeline continued making small talk about her parents’ trip all the way out of the hospital. Tonks half listened. She wanted to ask far more important questions about what was going on in the Order, and what the Muggle Liaison Office were up to their ears in, but she knew Emmeline was working hard to appear bright and cheery, and so she let her. Besides, there was to be an Order meeting the following day and she would be brought up to date then. 

Remus walked silently beside the two women as they made their way out of the hospital and onto the Knight Bus. Tonks flashed him a small smile which he seemed to hesitate before returning.

They reached Tonks’ childhood home half an hour later. She had moved out over three years ago, into a flat in the centre of London and much as she loved it there in the centre of things, this house still felt like home.

Her mother had clearly been waiting at a window for them to arrive. Tonks saw a curtain fluttering back into place as they approached, and Andromeda appeared at the door just as the three Order members set foot in the neat front garden. 

At the sight of her, Tonks was once again forcibly reminded of Bellatrix whom she so resembled. That had been the worst part about duelling against her aunt; despite her sunken cheeks and wild hair, she looked so familiar it had been terrifying.

But then Andromeda smiled and Tonks recognised her wide, caring eyes and chocolate brown hair, and the moment of fear passed as quickly as it had come.  
She embraced her mother as tightly as her sore chest and arm would allow, forgetting for a moment that she was an Auror or an Order member and seeking the comfort that only a mother could bring.

“Oh, Dora, I can’t tell you what a relief it is to see you’re alright,” Andromeda said, shaking her head despairingly as they broke apart. “You take better care of yourself in future. Don’t ever scare me like that again.”

“I’ll do my best, Mum,” Tonks grinned.

“Emmeline, Remus,” she said, nodding over her daughter’s shoulder to her companions. “Do you have time to come in for a cup of tea or is the Order keeping you too busy?”

“Oh I’m sure we can spare half an hour or so,” Emmeline replied, striding up the path to peck Andromeda on the cheek.

Remus smiled at Tonks and offered her his arm to help her up the steps to the door. Tonks was sure she was strong enough to climb them herself, but found herself rather touched by the gentlemanly gesture. She slid her arm through his with a grin and they followed the two older women into the house.

Ten minutes later, Tonks and Remus sat silently sipping tea, half listening to Emmeline and Andromeda having a conversation about their gardens, a topic neither of them were qualified to comment on. Much as she had missed her mother, Tonks had to admit she was relieved when Andromeda led Emmeline into the garden to show her some plant or another, leaving her and Remus alone in the lounge.

“How can they even be interested in things like that with everything that’s going on?” Tonks mused, staring out after the two women. It felt a little surreal to be sitting here talking about something so trivial when just a few weeks ago she had been fighting for her life and even today the newspapers heralded yet more death and destruction.

“I suppose they’re just trying to carry on as normal,” Remus replied. “We all are. There’s nothing else we can do. If we thought about the war all the time we’d go mad.”

Tonks nodded in agreement. “It just feels odd, like they don’t understand, but I know they do.” She leaned in towards Remus slightly, finding his presence next to her on the sofa very comforting. “Emmeline was in the Order right from the start, and with her family and everything my mum probably understands better than anyone. But I keep forgetting all of that when they’re pretending all that matters is the state of their bloody hydrangeas. Merlin, I hope I don’t ever end up sounding like such a middle-aged woman.”

“I don’t think there’s much danger of that,” Remus chuckled and Tonks began to laugh too, the bizarreness she felt at being back at home causing her to find the comment far funnier than it really was. She looked up at him when the laughter died out and found his face just inches from hers. This was happening more and more, this feeling of tension between them, but still neither of them had ever mentioned it. She smiled a little awkwardly but he did not return the smile, eyes fixed on hers and Tonks found herself drawn towards him.

“... had such terrible weather for the last few weeks, it’s been so grey and gloomy.” The sound of Emmeline’s voice in the hallway startled Tonks and Remus and they quickly sprang apart seconds before she and Andromeda re-entered the room. 

“We’d better get going, Remus,” said Emmeline briskly. “Our guard duty’s starting in ten minutes. It was lovely seeing you, Andromeda.”

Tonks watched as her mother said her goodbyes and thought she caught a hint of a knowing look in Andromeda’s eyes as she glanced from her daughter to Remus.


	4. Chapter 4

Bellatrix glared daggers at Narcissa as Narcissa she paced aimlessly up and down the kitchen. She had spent most of the last few months cooped up with her younger sister, more time than they had ever spent together in adulthood, and was starting to resent her moaning. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, Bellatrix had thought that Narcissa possessed a little more backbone than she was currently displaying. 

“... and Draco gets home today, Merlin knows how difficult this must be for him, he’s only sixteen and to see his father utterly disgraced like that...” Narcissa wrung her hands in a rather pathetic manner and Bellatrix rolled her eyes.

“Cissy,” she interrupted harshly, “could you please talk about something else for five minutes? This is boring me to tears.” She ran her finger around the rim of her glass of pumpkin juice to make it ring, which she knew her sister found infuriating.

Narcissa spun around angrily to face her. “My husband is in prison, Bella, do you really think I care about entertaining you?”

“He’s been there for two weeks already,” Bellatrix continued unflinchingly. “I would have thought you’d stop whining about it by now.”

“Whining!” Narcissa repeated, looking just about ready to hex her sister, though of course Bellatrix knew she wouldn’t. “You really have no idea what this is like, do you?”

“Well my husband is in prison too and yet I seem to be able to find other topics of conversation,” Bellatrix smirked.

“Oh yes that must be so difficult for you,” Narcissa muttered scathingly. “I know how incredibly close you were.”

That only increased Bellatrix’s smirk.

“I should know better than to expect sympathy from you,” Narcissa sighed. “I’m going to the station to collect Draco.”

She swept from the room and Bellatrix felt relieved to be alone at last, before she saw what Narcissa had left on the counter, which brought her exasperation flooding back.

“Cissy!”

“What is it?” Narcissa asked coldly, reappearing in the doorway.

“Don’t you think you might need that?” 

Narcissa’s face remained stony, but a faint blush appeared on her pale cheeks as she stalked over to the counter to pick up her wand, which she had left behind.  
“You can’t start getting careless now,” Bellatrix scolded. “I’m sure the Ministry would love nothing better than to lock you up, just so they can pretend they still have some modicum of control. You’re spending far too much time worrying and it’s not doing you any favours. Lucius will be fine. In case you’ve forgotten, I was in Azkaban for fourteen years and-“

Narcissa muttered something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like, “That’s what worries me,” causing Bellatrix’s temper to flare up instantly.

“And what is that supposed to mean?” she demanded, leaping to her feet.

Narcissa stepped backwards, looking a little afraid, though the tone in which she assured Bellatrix that it had been nothing sounded condescending.

Bellatrix sat back down slowly, her eyes still narrowed.

“Now that the Ministry has removed the Dementors from Azkaban it won’t be half as bad,” she said with a hint of bitterness. “And the Ministry are in such disarray that the Dark Lord will be able to break all his followers out whenever he chooses.”

“And what if he doesn’t?” Narcissa asked quietly. “What if the Dark Lord does not forgive him?”

Bellatrix bit her lip, feeling her stomach drop a little as Narcissa came so close to asking the very question that had been keeping her up at night for the past week; what if he never forgave any of them? 

“Then it will be Lucius’ own fault,” Bellatrix snapped angrily, not wanting to show Narcissa her fear. “He was supposed to be in charge and-“

“Don’t you dare.”

Bellatrix was a little taken aback at the cold fury, the extent of which she had never before heard in Narcissa’s tone.

“You were there too so don’t you dare blame Lucius.”

“The Dark Lord-“ Bellatrix began defensively, but Narcissa cut her off.

“He clearly blames you as well. Why else would he have ignored you completely all week?”

With that knife-blow to her sister’s heart Narcissa strode from the room and fortunately she was gone before Bellatrix had time to recover from it. Narcissa would most likely, as she probably well knew, have been on the receiving end of a nasty hex if she hadn’t.

Bellatrix picked up the glass she had been drinking from and hurled it against the wall which did little to sate her burning anger. 

Every day for the past week she had found out about attacks and kidnappings engineered by the Death Eaters in the same way as the general public did; in the newspaper. Her mark had not burned once. She had not even been in contact with any of the other Death Eaters. Those to whom she was related were all in Azkaban and those she counted as friends appeared to be too afraid of being tainted by her disgrace to visit. Clearly the Dark Lord did not currently deem her worthy enough to be informed of any of their activities.

This scarred her far more than his torture had. Before the Dark Lord had fallen, she had been right near the centre of his web. She had known almost all of his plans and been included in all the most important of them. She had been one of her master’s favourite and most trusted servants, and he had treated her the same way from the moment she left Azkaban, immediately telling her his plans for obtaining the prophecy and sending her to the ministry to obtain it.

But now, suddenly, there was nothing. She had been completely cut off without a word.

And it was destroying her.


	5. Chapter 5

Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place had never been exactly ideal as a headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. It had been dark and dingy and, when they had first arrived at least, downright dangerous. Tonks had waged war against the place for an entire year, often unintentionally, damaging the strange, dark objects that cluttered the entire house with her clumsiness, and it had certainly fought back. She could not remember having once left headquarters without sustaining some new cut, bruise or bite.

However, when she and Mad-Eye entered the Burrow for their first meeting held in this new makeshift headquarters, she began to think perhaps Number Twelve hadn’t been so bad after all.

They were the last to arrive and the Weasleys’ tiny kitchen was therefore heaving with people. Every chair had long since been taken, and as there certainly wasn’t room to conjure more, the walls were lined with standing figures.

“Sorry we’re late,” Tonks said brightly, casting an apprehensive look around the room for a route she could take, without treading on anyone’s feet. “Mad-Eye tried to make me fly to Liverpool first in case we were followed from the Ministry.” Whilst Tonks had been glad of the chance to catch up with her former mentor, she had known from the moment he had arrived at the Auror Office to escort her to the meeting that they would be very late. She once again mentally cursed the healer who had forbidden her from apparition.

“We’ve already had one headquarters jeopardised,” Moody replied gruffly. “We can’t afford to have Death Eaters showing up here.”

Tonks rolled her eyes, but otherwise ignored him, and stumbled across the crowded room to perch on a kitchen counter. Remus gave her a quick smile as she passed, but when she returned, he looked away awkwardly almost immediately. 

A tall, attractive, blonde woman stepped aside to allow her room to climb onto the counter. Tonks did not recognise her, but she could guess at her identity. Moody had complained in an aggressive whisper as they were leaving the Ministry that Bill’s new fiancée had been admitted into the Order without any background checking and that, for all they knew, she was a French spy. Why the French would be spying on the Order was anyone’s guess.

“Wotcher,” she said to the girl, who looked up a little confused. “I’m Tonks. You must be Fleur.”

Fleur nodded and smiled warmly, though she glanced slightly warily at Tonks’ usual bubblegum-pink hair. 

Fleur then turned away and began to nuzzle her head into Bill’s neck, which Tonks thought just a tad inappropriate for the situation. A quick glance at Molly’s face told her she thought the same.

Tonks leaned back a little to distance herself from the couple, but in doing so managed to somehow knock over a pot of kitchen implements that stood behind her. Bill and Fleur sprung apart at the resulting crash. Fortunately Tonks was spared the embarrassment of drawing the entire room’s attention, as it was at that moment that Dumbledore began to speak.

“Now that we are all present, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Molly and Arthur for most generously offering their home to us as a temporary headquarters,” Dumbledore said and Tonks flashed Molly an apologetic smile as she repaired and replaced the pot under Fleur’s irritated glare.

“We are all indebted to you,” Dumbledore continued bowing his head and extending his hand to indicate the Weasleys.

Tonks had to blink at the sight before her, but when she had processed it she gasped in shock. Dumbledore’s hand was blackened as though it had been burnt to a crisp. She could tell from the reaction of the rest of the room that she was by no means the only one who did not know of this injury.

“Nothing to worry about,” Dumbledore said lightly, withdrawing the hand into the folds of his embroidered robes.

Tonks glanced around the room to assess the reactions of those who might know a little more than she did. Mad-Eye looked just as shocked as she was. However, Snape’s jaw had set in a way that looked, not worried, but more like anger. Tonks frowned a little, but his reaction did not bring her any closer to discovering what was wrong.

As the murmurs died down, Kingsley brought up the first matter they needed to discuss. “We need to move Harry over the next couple of weeks. I would suggest that-“

“I’m afraid that will not be necessary,” Dumbledore said, softly cutting him off. “I will be collecting Harry from his Aunt and Uncle’s house myself. I believe he will be able to assist me with a small difficulty I have encountered. Oh, do not fear, my dear Molly, he will not be in any danger,” he continued in response to Mrs Weasley’s worried expression. “It is merely that I find myself, once again, short of a staff member. I am hoping Mr Potter will be able to persuade Professor Slughorn to resume his post as Potions master, whilst Severus here takes over as professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts.”

Tonks gasped and she was not the only one. She could remember from her own school days Snape’s ever increasing anger as each year he was passed over for the teaching position he coveted. What had changed now? She waited for an angry outburst, and someone to demand to know why he was being allowed to teach Defence, but it did not come. She remembered with a sinking feeling that it would have been Sirius who had made such an outburst. It felt strange to think she would never again hear an angry tirade from him against Snape. She missed them already.

Tonks glanced at Remus who was staring down into his lap. She couldn’t quite see his expression from where she was sitting, but she wondered whether he was perhaps thinking the same thing. Whilst the meeting moved on to discuss the loose Dementors, Tonks, only half listening, thought back to their conversation in St Mungo’s.

Remus had lost so much in the past, but she knew Sirius’ death had still hit him very hard. It had hurt them all. Even she hadn’t quite come to terms with it, despite only really knowing Sirius for a year, not counting the handful of times they had met before he had gone to Azkaban, when she was too young to fully remember him. She wondered if perhaps he had only been looking for comfort when he had held her hand in the hospital, and then at her parents’ house...

She was sure she hadn’t imagined that. He had been about to kiss her before they were interrupted, surely he had. 

Tonks had finally admitted to herself that she had a crush on Remus. And it wasn’t just any crush; she literally couldn’t stop thinking about him. In fairness, she had thought about him quite a lot last year, but she had dismissed that, at first telling herself that she just found him interesting, and then, when she realised that was a lie, that he was too old to be interested in her and she was just being silly. But he wasn’t really that much older than her.

She suddenly became aware that she was being watched, and a quick scan of the room told her that Snape was glancing between her and Remus with a look of faint disgust. 

A little embarrassed, Tonks tried to focus very hard on whatever Hestia Jones was saying about Death Eater activity, though she couldn’t help sneaking frequent glances at Remus, when she didn’t think anyone was watching.

Tonks found the rest of the meeting rather frustrating. Obviously everything that was going on was terrible, but she wasn’t allowed to help in any way, on the grounds that she was still recovering. And she really just wanted to talk to Remus.

At last, Dumbledore thanked them all for their reports and bade them goodnight, and Tonks hopped eagerly off the counter, once again knocking over the pot behind her. Fortunately, this time she caught it before it broke and hurriedly replaced it. But as she spun around, she found her way blocked by Molly Weasley.

“Tonks, dear, I was wondering if you wanted to come over for dinner tomorrow night. It’s been a while since the family saw you, and I’m sure Ginny in particular would be glad of your company.”

“Um, yes, of course Molly. I’d love to, thanks,” Tonks said brightly, hoping Mrs Weasley did not think her rude for scanning the crowd of departing Order members as she spoke.

However, to her surprise, Mrs Weasley’s next words were to call over the very man she sought.

Remus emerged from the crowd and made his way over to the two women, giving Tonks a smile, but not quite meeting her eyes.

“Remus, do you fancy coming round for dinner tomorrow evening? Tonks is coming and I think it’ll be nice for us to get together outside of meetings.”

Remus glanced quickly at Tonks before responding a little sheepishly, “Thank-you for the offer, Molly, but I am afraid I will be tied up with all this werewolf infiltration business.”

“Oh, don’t worry then,” said Mrs Weasley, as Tonks did her best not to look too disappointed. “You two see yourselves out, I’ve got to go and... er... change some sheets.” With that, Molly disappeared upstairs, just as the front door shut behind the last of the Order members. And Tonks and Remus were left alone.

“How are you feeling?” Remus asked.

“Much better,” Tonks replied, smiling at his familiar, gentle concern. “I’ve been able to go back to work, just desk duty, but it’s good to get back to normal.”

“That’s good,” Remus replied and they lapsed into silence. Tonks took the awkwardness as a clear sign that something had changed between them. Their conversations had always flowed so naturally before. Seizing onto this evidence, Tonks decided to be brave.

“Remus, the day you picked me up from the hospital, when we were at my parents’ house, were you...?” she trailed off, losing her nerve.

“I...” Remus began, but did not seem to know how to continue. His eyes, having previously avoided her gaze, were now fixed on hers, and they seemed to draw her in.  
She leaned towards him, never taking her eyes of his, and he did the same, until their lips were just inches apart. Tonks ran her tongue softly over her lips, and let her eyelids flicker shut as she closed the gap between them.

In that moment, there was nothing but the two of them. Remus wrapped his arms around her waist and drew her close and it was perfect, more perfect than she could ever have imagined.

And then the moment of perfect bliss was over, and Remus had pushed her away and was out of the door before Tonks could recover from her daze.


	6. Chapter 6

Bellatrix could have cried with joy when her mark burned after weeks of silence. Hurriedly placing her mask over her face and drawing her hood over the thick waves of her hair, she had disapparated within seconds and was not surprised to see that she was the first to arrive.

Her master stood, facing away from her, gazing out over a steely, grey river, his black robes rippling around his tall, thin frame in the breezes that were building themselves up to an approaching storm.

Her heart thudded in her chest and she approached as if pulled magnetically towards him, but before she reached him, other masked, hooded figures appeared, and by the time her master turned, she was just one more mask among a crowd. He did not so much as glance at her as, in one motion, the crowd dropped to its knees on the patchy river bank.

At a gesture from the Dark Lord, they rose and formed a circle and he strode purposefully to the centre of it running his cold eyes across the masked faces of his servants. He paid no attention to her, his gaze skimming past, and yet Bellatrix shivered, merely from being in his presence.

“My friends,” he began, softly enough that they could only just hear him above the winds and rushing water, but with palpable hints of danger, “you may be wondering why I have summoned you here, to the centre of this filthy city, in which arrogant Muggles roam free; free from the control which we deserve to impose upon them. If we had our way, such places would be purged and the filth inhabiting them made to serve us. And yet the Ministry of Magic sees fit to allow such blemishes to remain in this country because they care about those who should rightfully be placed well below us, they think they have the same rights, they want to protect them.”

He stopped and smirked as jeers ran around the ring of his followers, before lazily raising a hand to stop them.

“I have recently been... in contact with the Ministry of Magic.” A couple of the masked figures chuckled. “They were warned that should they not desist in their attempts to fight us and should they not stand aside and allow our new regime to begin, there would be cause for us to further demonstrate our power.”

Bellatrix felt a shiver of anticipation and the same sense of rightness that she always did when the Dark Lord spoke of their aims in this way. Yet it was tinged with a slight feeling of disappointment. She had not known that such threats were being made, or the way in which they had been made which others seemed to find so funny. For the first time since she had been brought into her master’s inner circle well over twenty years ago, she felt completely out of the loop. Even in Azkaban she had known more than the others because it seemed like she had been the only person to truly know he would return.

Perhaps she was no longer in his inner circle. Perhaps he no longer thought she could be trusted. Her stomach twisted uncomfortably and she tried to put such painful thoughts from her mind as the Dark Lord began to speak again.

“I have called you here, my friends, to reaffirm to all of you, and to the rest of the Wizarding world, that we are far superior to this vermin we have for so long been forced to hide away from. To remind you that we can crush them in a second, if we so choose.

“Plenty of warning was given, and we must not allow the Ministry to think that Lord Voldemort makes empty threats.”

He strode calmly towards the river bank and the ring of black cloaks broke without a word to allow him through. As they all formed a crowd behind their master, Bellatrix pushed her way to the front. The Dark Lord was still facing away from them, but had turned slightly and was gazing downstream towards where a busy bridge crossed the water, twirling his wand between his fingers and suddenly she knew what he planned to do.

Nothing, however, could have prepared her for his strike when it came. The steady raising of his wand and the inaudible mutter of a spell could easily have characterised the casting of the simplest of charms. Yet the pulse of magic that his curse emitted was like nothing she had ever experienced. It resonated through the air and even by the time it reached Bellatrix, standing several meters away and well out of the line of fire, its shockwave was powerful enough to send her stumbling backwards.

It tore through the bridge instantly, with a satisfying clang that must have echoed for miles around. The two halves crashed into the water as if the whole enormous metal structure was made of nothing more than twigs.

They were too far away to hear the screams, but from the sight of cars packed with Muggles plunging helpless into the foam, Bellatrix could tell that there were screams, and just the thought of them made her cackle with glee as the men around her cheered.

The Dark Lord turned back to them and Bellatrix felt her heartbeat flutter and her breath catch in her throat. Although she had known him, had served him, for more than half her life, she still found she could hardly believe his power. She bit her lower lip and gazed at him, her eyes wide with adoration. Still he did not spare her even a glance but at that moment it did not matter. She was captivated by his mere presence and at the thought that she was fighting under a leader so powerful and how unquestionably right that was.

She thought back to everything they had shared; how he had moulded her into his perfect warrior, how he had entrusted her with closely guarded secrets. How she would melt into him when they were alone together.

“You are dismissed.”

Lost in her thoughts, the Dark Lord’s sharp order made her jump a little, with a flicker of embarrassment at the course her thoughts had taken. That tiny flicker was quickly replaced, however, by a sudden, desperate hope that, after everything, surely her master would forgive her.

She thought of how, after he had released her from Azkaban, he had clasped her jaw with those long, pale fingers and looked down at her with something almost resembling pride and called her his most faithful servant. 

The giddy joy that she had felt in that moment, feeling a happiness that for so very long she had been without, began to consume her now. Foolishly, she began to think that her master would surely forgive her. Surely her failings were nothing when compared to all she had sacrificed for him.

So instead of disapparating away, as all those around her were now doing, she boldly approached the Dark Lord.

“Master...”

His expression switched instantly to anger as his crimson eyes darted to Bellatrix, with enough venom to make her tremble. “I have already dismissed you. I recommend you do not try my patience,” he snapped, and in a second he had disapparated, leaving her to stand alone on the river bank. 

She stood there for well over an hour, as dusk fell, and the blue lights of sirens danced on the steely waters, reflecting on how foolish her hope had been.


	7. Chapter 7

“Oh, Dora, there you are, dear,” said Emmeline Vance as she stepped in front of Tonks, halting her in her journey across the room to confront Remus. She fixed the younger woman in place with a look of maternal concern. “Are you feeling alright? You look a little pale.”

“I’m fine,” Tonks reassured her and tried to focus on bringing a little more colour to her cheeks. She could feel that it was not working. She had had a lot of trouble transforming recently because she had far too much on her mind. Whenever she tried to picture her usual bubblegum-pink shade, her thoughts darted back anxiously to the previous week’s Order meeting and what Remus must think of her. She knew that the mousy brown colour her hair had faded to only made her look more anxious and drawn.

“You should take things easy for a couple more weeks. Give yourself time to recover properly. I hope they’re not putting too much pressure on you at work.” 

“Honestly, I feel fine.” Tonks did her best to sound her usual, chirpy self but she could tell from the way Emmeline pursed her lips that she did not believe her and most likely would be reporting back to her mother that she was over-exerting herself. That was the last thing Tonks needed.

Now, however, she had more pressing matters to attend to. She had just caught sight of Remus’ back retreating through the Burrow’s front door, even though most of the Order members were staying around to chat.

She made her excuses and dashed after him.

“Remus!”

He seemed to hesitate before turning around slowly to face her, not quite meeting her eyes. They were the only two people in the yard. Everyone else had either reached the apparition point by now and left, or was still inside. And this seemed to make Remus very uncomfortable.

“Remus, we need-“

“Nymphadora, I’m sorry-“

They both started speaking at the same time and quickly broke off.

“You go first,” Remus said, still not quite looking at her.

Tonks took a deep breath, before she launched into a slightly stilted sounding speech. “Look, I just thought there was something going on between us – you know, at my parents’ house when I got out of St. Mungo’s? And that’s why I did that last week... I just... If I’ve completely got the wrong idea then please tell me and that’s... well that’s fine.” That was a complete lie. If he told her she had been imagining the whole thing, it most definitely was not fine. “And why have you started calling me Nymphadora again?”

“I’m sorry,” Remus replied without a smile. “We just... we can’t.”

Tonks felt as though her heart had stopped. “Oh Merlin, I’ve been making it all up, haven’t I?”

“No, no you haven’t,” Remus reassured her, but his usual calm tone was gone. “You’re an incredible young woman, but there are just far too many complications. It wouldn’t be fair to you if we...” He trailed off shaking his head.

“Complications? What do you mean?”

“I’m not...” Remus struggled to find the words to explain. “I’m not safe.”

“Of course you are!” Tonks cried, shocked. “Your... _condition_ doesn’t bother me at all. I don’t care about that.”

“It’s not just that, it’s what other people think of me and what they’ll think of you if...” He looked down at his feet. “I’m not good for you and it wouldn’t be fair.”

“But I... I think I...” She took a deep breath. “I love you.”

Remus seemed to flinch at her words before he shook his head and simply muttered, “I’m sorry.”

Tonks felt as though all the blood had drained from her body and left her completely numb. She barely registered that something had just brushed past her wrist until it stopped directly in front of her, emitting a pearly glow. 

The apparition of the silver lynx puzzled her. Kingsley had been too busy to attend today’s meeting, so if he was sending a message now, it had to mean something bad. Very bad. Tonks felt her stomach twist with a sudden spasm of fear as the creature’s mouth opened and Kingsley’s familiar, low voice, slightly tinged with panic rang out across the yard.

“Death Eaters are attacking towns in South Devon. We need people here _immediately_.”

Her head still spinning with emotions, Tonks could only stare at the spot where the lynx patronus had been, for several seconds after it vanished. Then, seizing herself, she sprinted off across the yard, beyond the Burrow’s protective enchantments, barely noticing that Remus was calling after her, and turned on the spot. The yard was instantly replaced by blackness... and then a scene of utter chaos appeared before her.


	8. Chapter 8

Their screams were music to Bellatrix's ears. Terrified Muggles ran helplessly from their homes as roofs were torn off and cars overturned before their eyes by the horde of giants that the Dark Lord had finally decided to unleash. Bellatrix revelled in the panic on the Muggles' faces, as they ran from the terrifying creatures they did not recognise and into a far more dangerous enemy. She struck, again and again, crushing them like insects. She had forgotten how good this felt; the freedom to follow her darkest impulses and the power she held over the scum as, trapped between giants and Death Eaters, they attempted to flee in vain.

She strode down the ruined street, relishing in the destruction as she flicked her wand at piles of rubble and uprooted trees to clear a path for herself. Then, amongst the crashes and screams, she heard another sound; a crack that sounded very much like someone apparating. That was odd. All the Death Eaters had been at the meeting point where they had begun their march through the Muggle towns, and if the Ministry were to send anyone to stop them, surely there would have been more than one crack.

Deciding there must be a single witch or wizard living in the area, Bellatrix slipped into an alleyway and headed in the direction the noise had come from in order to surprise whoever it might be.

The alleyway emerged onto some kind of large concrete clearing which the Muggles seemed to be using to store their motor-cars. It was deserted but for the solitary figure of a young, mousy-haired woman striding purposefully away from where Bellatrix was standing.

The sudden appearance of a second figure, just a few meters in ahead of where she was standing, startled Bellatrix and she automatically took a step back into the shade of the alleyway. The man took no notice of her, however, but immediately caught sight of the mousy-haired woman and dashed after her.

"Tonks, you need to go back. Listen to me, please, you haven't recovered yet. You shouldn't be fighting."

A vindictive pleasure seeped over Bellatrix as the woman spun around at his shout and she recognised her estranged sister's filthy, half-blood spawn. And she had still not recovered. The thought made her thin lips stretch into a wicked grin. The girl had not been in a very good state by the end of their last meeting and come to think of it she did look rather pale and drawn.

"I'm fine, Remus," Tonks replied irritably. "They need all the help they can get."

Bellatrix heard footsteps approaching from behind her and turned to see the hulking form of Thorfinn Rowle. She pressed a finger to her lips and shot him a warning look. He obediently slowed his pace and stood silently behind her, looking thoroughly confused as his gaze darted between Bellatrix and the pair arguing a few rows of cars from them. Bellatrix knew he was puzzled because she was never normally one to hang back, but this was different. She owed it to her family's name to make this brat suffer, for what she was and all that she stood for. And most of all she owed it to Andromeda.

Bellatrix knew from experience that revenge was best extracted slowly.

She turned her attention back to the two oblivious Order members who were now having a very heated discussion about whether the girl should be allowed to go and fight. Then, Tonks said something that immediately caught Bellatrix's attention.

"This isn't about us, I'm angry because people are dying!"

Us? So there was something going on between the brat and that ragged looking man. She was hardly surprised that her estranged niece associated with people like this... Remus had she called him? Surely he couldn't be that werewolf who had run around with the Order? The very thought disgusted her, and unable to take any more, she stepped out of the alleyway.

"Am I interrupting something?" Bellatrix smiled with glee as the two Order members spun in shock and terror to face her, and with a flick of her wrist sent a Cruciatus Curse at her niece.

Tonks only just reacted in time to block the curse and its impact on her hastily conjured shield charm sent her stumbling backwards for several meters. She attempted to fire a counter curse before she had fully regained her balance, and missed by several meters.

Bellatrix cackled. "Are you quite sure you want to challenge me, dear?" she asked with mock concern, blocking a curse the werewolf had fired at her without blinking. "It didn't go so well for you the last time we met, and you still look a bit poorly."

The pair glared at her with loathing, both their wands pointed squarely towards her. They didn't even seem to have noticed Rowle was there, and only at the last moment did they manage to duck under his curse.

The four of them began to duel fiercely, to the backdrop of the wails and screams rising from the nearby streets. Rowle was clearly duelling to kill but Bellatrix was more cautious, waiting for an opportunity to prise the brat away from the protection of her ally.

There was a sudden burst of flame as a stray curse hit a car some distance away and they all ducked for cover. Seizing the opportunity, Bellatrix stayed low and crept over to where she had seen her niece dart behind a large van. Rowle and the werewolf continued their duel and neither seemed to notice when Bellatrix tripped the girl by conjuring an invisible rope.

The brat scrabbled helplessly for her dropped wand, but Bellatrix held it just out of reach with her own.

"I did warn you this was a bad idea. Now I can finish you off too, like my dear cousin and then I'll only have Andromeda left before I'm rid of all our family's little problems."

The girl kicked out at her, and at the same time made another grab for her fallen wand, momentarily breaking Bellatrix's focus on her spell. Bellatrix mentally cursed herself for allowing her prey to re-arm, but the girl was still sprawled on the ground and clearly at a disadvantage.

"Don't think that'll help you!" Bellatrix spat. "We've already proven you can't beat me, and it doesn't look like your werewolf boyfriend is coming to help you."

The girl looked visibly taken aback but recovered quickly, firing a hex that Bellatrix only just managed to block in time. She was about to return the attack when another jet of red light zoomed past just inches in front of her, instinctively causing her to jump backwards.

Bellatrix's heart leapt up into her throat as she saw a group of six or seven witches and wizards in Auror robes coming towards her. Fortunately, before any of them could cast another spell, a giant smashed its way through the building to Bellatrix's left and, in the dust, rubble and confusion, she managed to dart back down the alleyway back to the street she had been on before.

Once she got there, she realised their fun was well and truly over. Her fellow Death Eaters were now struggling against forces from the Ministry and Order and it looked like they were outnumbered. A searing pain from the mark on her arm ordered the retreat, and Bellatrix obeyed.

A last glimpse of the destruction around her as she disapparated showed that they had made their point. It just would have been all the sweeter if she had managed to rid herself of that brat as well.


	9. Chapter 9

The day after the attacks in Devon, the Auror Office had finally deemed Tonks recovered, she suspected more out of necessity than any actual assessment of her health. It had been a relief at first to get out of the office and she had looked forward to being able to throw herself back into her work and put the thoughts of Remus' rejection, Sirius' death and Bellatrix's determination to destroy her, from her mind.

However, her job did not seem as interesting and exciting as it once had. Whereas before she had largely been dealing with unsolved mysteries and petty criminals, the Death Eaters doing their best to remain concealed, the Wizarding World was now engaged in a fully-fledged war. Now, her duties mostly consisted of clearing up after attacks, trying desperately to limit damage and always feeling several steps behind You-Know-Who and his followers.

Four days had now passed, but Tonks found herself spending another chilly, overcast, July morning in the West Country, where three more mangled corpses had been discovered in the wreckage left behind by what the Muggles now believed had been a freak hurricane.

"This poor fellow's got some pretty clear signs of magical damage, Tonks. We'll have to tidy him up before the Muggle authorities get hold of him."

Tonks mentally braced herself and clambered over a fallen tree to where Dawlish stood over the corpse. It was covered in scorch marks and swellings that had obviously been raised by some nasty hexes. She set to work transfiguring the damaged skin, trying to ignore the way it bubbled grotesquely as it returned to a more normal looking state. She wondered who this man had been, who he had left behind. And whether his family would actually believe a hurricane in the South of England could have killed him and so many others.

"Hey what do you think you're doing? This area's unsafe, can't you see it's been roped off?"

Tonks glanced up at the introduction, but Dawlish had already pointed his wand at the new arrival and muttered, "Obliviate." The Muggle police officer wandered off in a daze for the third time that day and Tonks felt a bizarre urge to laugh.

"We'd better finish off here before she gets back," said Dawlish. "She'll end up addled if we keep wiping her memory."

"I'm done here. That's the whole street, isn't it?"

"Yes, I'll send word to Shacklebolt, see where he wants us to cover next."

Before Dawlish could finish writing a memo, however, they spotted Kingsley heading up the street towards them.

"Wotcher," Tonks called out. "We're finished, is everyone ready to move onto the next town?" As he got closer, however, she saw that his face was clouded with worry. "Kingsley, what's happened?"

"I need you two to go back to London," he began slowly. "There's been a murder. Scrimgeour will brief you when you get there.

Tonks and Dawlish nodded shakily. Tonks bent down to pick up her rucksack and heard a crack as Dawlish disapparated.

"Tonks…" Kingsley put a hand on her arm as a sign for her to wait. She looked up and saw concern in his dark eyes and her stomach dropped.

"Who is it?" The question came out as a whisper.

"I don't know for sure, I haven't been told details. But I do know the murder took place in Westminster and I haven't been able to get in touch with Emmeline Vance. I know the two of you were close and I wouldn't ask but… if it is her and there's any chance they procured information from her I need someone who can alert the Order straight away. Are you going to be able to do that?"

Tonks felt completely dead inside but somehow managed a nod. She turned on the spot and instantly found herself in the Ministry's Atrium. What had once been a place of cheery greetings now had a palpable air of tension as Ministry workers from every department bustled about with a harried look. She spotted Fudge himself across the hallway talking with desperate looking hand gestures to the Head of the Department of Magical Transportation. Both men looked exhausted. She had no time to wonder what fresh disaster they were discussing though, and caught up with Dawlish just as he got into a lift.

The Auror Office was in chaos when they arrived, and Tonks could tell they were dealing with more than just one murder. Rufus Scrimgeour strode up to them. Tonks had to admire his stony attitude and sense of control in contrast to almost everyone else around him.

"Shacklebolt sent you to help with the Vance murder, yes?" The tiny bubble of hope Tonks had been holding on to vanished at his blunt question. "The Muggles found her first and it's all over their television news. It doesn't look like we'll be able to get anywhere near the house today without possibly causing a scene. Robards will let you know what's happening, please excuse me."

He strode out of the room and Tonks found herself chanting inside her head, you can think about her later, you need to concentrate on work, you can think about her later. She hoped the more she repeated her advice to herself, the easier it would be to follow, but the next couple of hours still were incredibly difficult.

Kingsley appeared back at the office mid-afternoon and Tonks apologised for not being able to do what he asked.

"It happens," he replied calmly. "It's important not to do anything that panics the Muggles too much."

"Well, do you need me back down in the West Country? There's not really much I can do here."

Kingsley smiled sympathetically and Tonks knew he understood that she had meant she needed a distraction from thinking about what had happened to Emmeline.  
"I'm not working there any more either, I've just been reassigned."

"Why? Has something else happened?"

"I'm to guard the Muggle Prime Minister. The Death Eaters have attempted to place one of his ministers under the Imperius Curse so security surrounding the Muggle government is being increased."

"Okay. Well, good luck." Her words sounded rather feeble and insincere, but that was simply because she felt exhausted. As soon as Kingsley was gone, she slumped down in her desk chair and held her head in her hands.

She felt so powerless. An Order member had just been killed, people were being attacked left right and centre, and she had no idea what to do. She was in the Auror Office and the Order of the Phoenix, she was supposed to be on the front line of this war but it was starting to feel more hopeless than ever. If the Death Eaters were trying to infiltrate the Muggle government, it wouldn't be long before they tried the same at the Ministry, if they hadn't already. She was out of her depth.

She thought of Emmeline and Remus coming to collect her from St. Mungo's just weeks before, struggling to believe that she would never again see Emmeline's kind features and look of maternal concern. And Remus… She needed him so much at this moment, more than she could bear. She wanted nothing more than his comfort, to hear him tell her it would be okay, that they were in this together.

But she could need him all she liked, it didn't mean he wanted her.


End file.
